Aside from an official ceremony headed by President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) to mark the 67th anniversary of the 228 Incident, several civic groups have organized various events across the country to commemorate it today.
The 228 Incident refers to a crackdown launched by the then-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) regime against civilian demonstrations in 1947, following an incident in Taipei on Feb. 27.
Estimates of the casualties range from thousands to tens of thousands, but the exact figure remains unknown.
The official memorial is to be held in Hualien, with Ma presenting a certificate of restoration of honor for 228 victim Sung Chun-lan (宋春蘭) to his son Sung Heng-hsiung (宋恒雄). Meanwhile, members of the Eastern Taiwan Society are working with National Dong Hwa University students to organize their own activity, including a concert at the university campus in Hualien in the evening.
In Taipei, the Awakened Citizens’ Alliance and the Alliance of Civics Teachers are to stage a rally from 2pm to 6pm outside the Ministry of Education to protest proposed high-school curriculum guideline reforms. The groups are concerned that the new guidelines are an attempt to force sinocentric ideologies upon students.
In the south, the Southern Taiwan Society, the Praxis in the South Cultural Association and the Taiwan Association of University Professors, together with several student organizations from National Tainan Girls’ Senior High School, National Cheng Kung University and National Pingtung University of Education, are to hold an exhibition commemorating 228 victims. The exhibition opens at noon, and a candlelight vigil is to be held from 7:30pm to 8pm today. Both events are to be held at Cheng Kung University’s Nan Jung Square (南榕廣場).
MILITARY BOOST: The procurement was planned after Washington recommended that Taiwan increase its stock of air defense missiles, a defense official said yesterday Taiwan is planning to order an additional four PAC-3 MSE systems and up to 500 missiles in response to an increasing number of missile sites on China’s east coast, a defense official said yesterday. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that the proposed order would be placed using the defense procurement special budget, adding that about NT$1 trillion (US$32,88 billion) has been allocated for the budget. The proposed acquisition would include launchers, missiles, and a lower tier air and missile defense radar system, they said The procurement was planned after the US military recommended that Taiwan increase
POLITICAL AGENDA: Beijing’s cross-strait Mid-Autumn Festival events are part of a ‘cultural united front’ aimed at promoting unification with Taiwan, academics said Local authorities in China have been inviting Taiwanese to participate in cross-strait Mid-Autumn Festival celebrations centered around ideals of “family and nation,” a move Taiwanese academics said politicizes the holiday to promote the idea of “one family” across the Taiwan Strait. Sources said that China’s Fujian Provincial Government is organizing about 20 cross-strait-themed events in cities including Quanzhou, Nanping, Sanming and Zhangzhou. In Zhangzhou, a festival scheduled for Wednesday is to showcase Minnan-language songs and budaixi (布袋戲) glove puppetry to highlight cultural similarities between Taiwan and the region. Elsewhere, Jiangsu Province is hosting more than 10 similar celebrations in Taizhou, Changzhou, Suzhou,
TWO HEAVYWEIGHTS: Trump and Xi respect each other, are in a unique position to do something great, and they want to do that together, the US envoy to China said The administration of US President Donald Trump has told Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) “we don’t want any coercion, but we want [the Taiwan dispute] resolved peacefully,” US ambassador to China David Perdue said in a TV interview on Thursday. Trump “has said very clearly, we are not changing the ‘one China’ policy, we are going to adhere to the Taiwan Relations Act, the three communiques and the ‘six assurances’ that were done under [former US president Ronald] Reagan,” Perdue told Joe Kernen, cohost of CNBC’s Squawk Box. The act, the Three Joint Communiques and the “six assurances” are guidelines for Washington
DEEPENING TIES: The two are boosting cooperation in response to China’s coercive actions and have signed MOUs on search-and-rescue and anti-smuggling efforts Taiwan and Japan are moving to normalize joint coast guard training and considering the inclusion of other allies, the Japanese Yomiuri Shimbun reported yesterday. Both nations’ coast guards in June sent vessels to the seas south of the Sakishima Islands to conduct joint training, the report said, adding that it was the second joint maritime training exercise since the nations severed formal diplomatic ties in September 1972. Japan dispatched the Nagoya Coast Guard’s Mizuho, a 134m, 6,000-tonne patrol vessel which can carry a helicopter, while the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) sent the 126m, 4,000-tonne Yunlin, one of its largest vessels, the report
RSS